After spending his weekdays with 25 energetic 5-year-olds as a kindergarten teacher, Nick Voinov needs a place and activity that provides respite. For decades, it’s been his garden.

Voinov, who lives in La Mesa with his wife, Joanna, and their three children, originally moved into his house in 1994 with friends. His mom, Janet, had bought it the year before. It’s across the street from the family home Voinov grew up in and where Janet still lives. Voinov bought it from her 10 years later when he and Joanna married. And he’s been working in that garden, now filled with a wide variety of succulents, for more than 20 years. It was only last year that he heard about Helix Water District’s WaterSmart Landscape contest. He entered and he won, receiving a $250 gift certificate to Walter Anderson Nursery.

 

(Editor’s Note: This is the fifth in an occasional series on winners of the annual WaterSmart Landscape Contest, conducted in partnership with the San Diego County Water Authority. To learn about entering the next contest, visit landscapecontest.com. For details on classes and resources through the WaterSmart Landscape Makeover Program, visit www.sdcwa.org/your-water/conservation. Landscape rebates are available through the Socal WaterSmart Turf Replacement Program at socalwatersmart.com.)